I haven't gotten far into the game at all, and I put off trying it forever because of the terrible reviews it received. But I was bored, and so...

To my surprise, though, I find myself pretty entertained so far. The opening story bits were really good, and the combat is pretty satisfying and simple. The camera is a bit "meh," but overall so far so good.

Yeah, getting "epic" on the DS is certainly a tall order. But for what Dark Secret is, it's pretty cool.

I just played some more of it, and am even more impressed. I like the various options and how the game is set-up overall. You can make or buy gear; choose missions in various orders, ala Onimusha; and the game's presentation is really pretty nice. The top-down thing doesn't bother me in terms of losing any kind of feel, but it does seem to hinder your ability to be stealthy. But the game does kind of set you up with the idea (during the opening dialogue) that action is more of the focus, whereas the console Tenchus might be more about the stealth.

I think you definitely have to keep the game in perspective. The DS is fairly limited with what it can do in the sense of an action / adventure game. Compared to much of what else is out there for the system, I'd say Tenchu has a lot going for it so far.

I'll reserve a final verdict, of course, until I play it through. But it's always nice to find something fun that was panned by critics.

The reason why it's bad is because of the idiotic AI and the fact that it tarnishes the good name of the console versions, which weren't that great in the first place.

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Well, it's definitely not comparable to a console Tenchu experience, though the AI isn't all that different, really. Nintendo probably would have fared better publishing it under a name that suggested better that it was an off-shoot of the series, rather than an actual Tenchu game. I am almost finished with it, and for an arcade-style, stealth-action game on the DS it's pretty darn fun. There's not one aspect I could point to and say "it's broken." The missions are a bit repetitive, and it certainly isn't a pretty game. But it's definitely not nearly the train wreck critics made it out to be. It's not a game for everyone, perhaps, but I think those who go in for this sort of game will really dig it.